Absorption air conditioning and refrigeration devices are well known in the prior art and generally employ a heat source and highly endothermic reactants, such as halide salts in water as a heat absorption media. Such refrigeration systems operate on a principle of heat absorption by heat exchange with the environment upon contact with endothermic reaction products.
Typically, the working medium in an absorption refrigeration heating cycle is ammonia and water, wherein ammonia vapor is first extracted from and then absorbed into the ammonia solution. Ammonia has a lower boiling point and a higher vapor pressure than water; in ammonia-based systems, ammonia acts as the refrigerant and the ammonia-water solution as the absorbent.
Another example of a working medium is a solution of water and lithium bromide. Water has a lower boiling temperature and a higher vapor pressure in the gaseous phase for a specified temperature than does a solution of lithium bromide. Water in a lithium bromide solution functions as the ammonia refrigerant in the ammonia working medium. Theoretically, any substances having a high endothermic affinity for one another and which can be separated by heating may be used in an absorption refrigeration system.
This disclosure focuses upon the step in the absorption cooling process where a liquid solution is heated and the working medium having the lower boiling point is vaporized.
Assemblies for absorption air conditioners previously contemplated generally rely upon gas or furnace fuel burners for generation of the requisite heat and are not capable of being fired by waste oil.
Waste oil is extremely viscous and may be laden with a variety of contaminants. As a result, waste oil burners typically generate heavy soot and ash deposits. These byproducts of combustion are highly acidic and corrosive which precludes the use of waste oil burners in certain contexts.
Prior attempts at utilizing waste oil to fire an absorption air conditioning device have failed for primarily this reason. Because gas and furnace fuel burn cleanly, such burners may be fired directly on the outside surface of the air conditioner "generator" wherein the reactant solution is heated and the refrigerant vaporized. However, a generator heated directly by a waste oil burner would be susceptible to corrosion, the accumulation of ash, and dissemination of foul odors.
Despite these obstacles to the use of waste oil burners, controlled combustion of this hazardous waste is the disposal method preferred by the Environmental Protection Agency. Alternative methods of waste oil disposal, such as storage in underground tanks, involve risks of dangerous soil and water contamination.
Although waste oil is generated in all regions of the United States, heretofore waste oil burners were only of practical use in those states with cooler climates and a need for heat in winter months. Before the creation of a waste oil-fired air conditioning system, southern-tier states with little or no need for heat have had to pay costly fees to transport and recycle or properly dispose of waste oil. With the development of the present invention, waste oil can be inexpensively and efficiently disposed of in such areas while generating heat necessary for operation of an absorption air conditioning device.